Alea Iacta Est: The Die is Cast
by CronoDroid
Summary: An original story set in the Star Trek universe featuring a few familiar faces, but an original crew. The adventures of Rear Admiral (lower half) Crono Dranzer and his plucky crew, on board the Federation Heavy Carrier NCC-58700 USS Godfist.
1. Change

Alea Iacta Est

**The Die is Cast**

"_War is much too serious a matter to be entrusted to the military."_

_**Georges Clemenceau**_

"_The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his."_

_**General G. S. Patton**_

By CronoDroid

**WARNING: **Will contain violence, coarse language, adult themes, war and pillage. Beware!

**Chapter One: **Change

_6 May, 2381_

"Captain, the men from Section 33 are here." The USS Cardinal's Tactical Officer announced.

"Thank you Mr Driscoll, beam them directly to my ready room." The Captain, a 36-year old man named Crono Dranzer replied. He got out of his chair and strolled briskly through the door on the port side on the bridge.

"Ah, Captain Dranzer, a pleasure to meet you at last…I am Colonel Mikhail Vladimirovich Zamanov of Section 33, Military Intelligence." Greeted a Russian Starfleet officer in his mid-40's. He smiled and shook Captain Dranzer's hand as the Captain appraised the other two Section 33 agents.

"Colonel? I thought Starfleet only used Navy ranks." Capt. Dranzer said dryly as he shook hands with the rest of the agents.

"Ah, Starfleet will use Army ranks for the new Starfleet Space Marine Corps that is being implemented as we speak, and as Section 33 will consist of personnel from both the Fleet and the Corps, we use both ranking systems. I myself am a Marine."

"I see…" Capt. Dranzer was worried about this new change towards a more militaristic attitude regarding Federation policy. Traditionally, Starfleet was a research and exploration organisation, but with the election of the new President, Starfleet would become an actual military. Most of the explorer and research classes would be decommissioned in favour of more escorts, destroyers, cruisers and, it was rumoured, possible carriers or battleships.

"So, why are you here, gentlemen?" Dranzer asked in his nicest voice. Starfleet officers instinctively were wary of Section 33, much like the militaries of the 20th and 21st century was cautious of their military intelligence.

"Captain Dranzer, I will be blunt…we are here to secure your support for the new scheme that will officially make Starfleet into a military. If you have doubts about the new branch, we have orders to take away your commission and discharge you from service…"

Dranzer was shocked beyond belief…this was a purge!

"Wha…wha…what?" He spluttered.

"Hmm, we expected something like this…" one of the agents in the back commented.

"Yes…it said our report that this man was an explorer at heart…it would be difficult to turn him into a military man…" the other observed.

Colonel Zamanov raised his hand. "We will give this man a chance. Captain Dranzer, we also have good news…I know that you have been begging for a new ship, you said yourself this old _Excelsior _was literally falling apart. Well, as part of the new militarisation, Starfleet has commissioned a brand new carrier…the very first of its type. We know that you hold lots of sway in the Captain community, if you publicly announce your support for the new system; many will follow in your footsteps. After all, you are a war hero from the Dominion War…only you and your tactical officer Bladewing Driscoll survived after crashing your _Galaxy _into a battleship that was about to obliterate the fleet. This _Excelsior _was only a temporary assignment for you and many other valiant sailors that lost their ships. The new _Nexus_-class carrier is where you and your entire crew are moving, as the lot of you are the most experienced and hardened warriors in the fleet. Think about it…you commanding the flagship of the fleet…an Admiral!"

The good news quite literally stunned Dranzer. _A carrier? The Flagship of the fleet? Admiralcy? This is like a dream come true! _Dranzer thought incredulously. _But…I will be a warmonger then…I will have a warship! This is against every principle Starfleet ever stood for! _But the voice that wanted the chance to command a carrier won.

"Okay." Captain Dranzer said after fighting his conscience for a couple of minutes. "I will take this post."

A few days later, after announcing the support for the new Military, Rear Admiral Dranzer and his tactical officer Commander Driscoll were shipped out to the Utopia Planitia shipyards for their briefing on the _Nexus-_class. The runabout swooped past space debris on half-impulse, heading directly towards Mars. A few minutes later the massive carrier could be seen clearly.

It was an enormously spectacular thing, at least a kilometre in length. An island stuck out from the hull, a 100m tall grey tower housing the Combat-Information-Centre and Bridge. The helm and Attack Centre would be forward, in the main body of the vessel herself. The hull was a smooth hexagon with the top half of the bow cut off three-quarters of the way down the length for a flight deck. The warp nacelles were integrated into the stern, and the impulse engines were on the back.

The runabout landed in the flight deck, where Rear Adm. Dranzer and Lt. Cdr. Driscoll exited and proceeding to the space lounge for their briefing.

The briefing took place as soon as the two officers sat down. The man speaking was the new Chief Engineer; a Frenchman who stated his name was Commander Louis Blériot in accentless English.

"Gentlemen, this _Nexus-_class, USS _Godfist _NCC-58700is the stuff of legend that we engineers only dream about. 1219m long, 353m tall including the island, and 300m wide, only the _Sovereign-_class comes close in size, and then we are almost three times the size of it. It weighs 390 000metric tons, and carries a crew complement of roughly 4000 not including the flight crew, pilots and marines. In total we now have about 6800 men and women…and androgynous crewmembers and officers on board."  
Cdr. Blériot paused to let Cdr. Driscoll give a long whistle.

"The air group is about 800 in size, 300 pilots for 140 aircraft, 70 fighters, 30 bombers and 40 multirole, and 500 support personnel. Marine complement is a 2000-strong Regiment, 1000 infantry, 600 cavalry/artillery and 400 support crews. I'll leave the Air Group Captain to talk about the Air group in detail."

The Air Group Captain spoke up, a greying Englishman of 50.

"Okay chaps, our new Air Group is unlike anything every seen before in Starfleet. Our two main fighters, the lightweight SF-22 _Sabre _and the heavier SF-30 _Shredder _are more than a match for even heavily armed runabouts and light OP/FOR vessels. Capable of Warp and sustained maximum impulse flight for six hours, they are extremely versatile in dealing with smaller vessels. They both carry pulse phasers, phaser cannons and Anti-Grav missiles. For strike and interdiction purposes, we have customised the venerable SF/A-112 _Peregrine _to become the new multirole STOVL strike platform that the carrier fleet uses to strike planetary targets and medium ships, and also to provide CAS. They carry photon torpedoes and pulse phasers, and can easily project Federation power by blockading trade lanes, destroying supply and support vessels and taking out ground bases. As a last resort, however, we have the awe-inspiring SB-79 _Ultima _to put an end to even Heavy Cruisers. Quantum torpedoes, ablative armour, regenerative shields and phasers make it even a match for _Intrepids, Warbirds _and_ Galors. _It'sa decidedly venerable force."

The Bolian Marine Commandant spoke next.

"If you think the air arm is impressive, boy, are you in for a treat with my Marines. No longer do the citizens of the Federation have to sit around and cringe as the Federation is defeated again and again in all ground engagements. No longer will we be laughed at by all the other powers of the Galaxy. Federation Marines are one mean bunch of mother…"

"Ahem." Adm. Dranzer cleared his throat. "Please go on, General Rex."

"Right sir, sorry sir. Anyway, the marine regiment consists of a brigade of infantry armed with Type IIIa/b Compression Rifles and TR-120 Assault Rifles as the assault weapons, FIM-102 _Striker_ shoulder launched anti-aircraft weapons to fight air targets, LAW-89 Photon Cannons to defeat armour and a new Pulse Phaser GPMG for suppression and fire-support. To add to the potency of this force that can deal with almost anything the galaxy throws at them, the mobile cavalry is there. Photon Howitzers can tear apart the enemy at range with an outstanding sensor suite capable of discovering even cloaked enemies, the M-6A3 Main Battle Tank armed with both anti-armour and anti-personnel weapons and M114 Space Landers to deliver the troops and tanks from space, air, sea or land. Airborne Early Warning is provided by unmanned sensor drones, these drones also have two AGM-13 and two AIM-15 missiles to defend themselves and take care of armour. I know this is a lot to take in, but the Annual Neptune Wargame we are heading to first will help demonstrate the power of the Federation Marine Corps."

Adm. Dranzer rubbed his temples. _This is a flying death-mobile! I sure hope we don't have to use it…_

"Well, if the AGC and the MC don't have anything more to say, give me the rundown on this baby's capabilities." Dranzer spoke up.

Cdr. Blériot resumed from where he left off.

"The _Nexus-_class is equipped with four Rolls-Royce Mk.7 Matter/Antimatter reactors and six Class-XII fusion generators to provide warp and auxiliary power. The power available to her is unlike anything ever before seen. A transwarp capable engine allows the ship to cruise at Warp 13 and dash at 20, able to get from Earth to Cardassia Prime in an hour! Computers are positronic, able to do 89x10e36 calculations per second. Testing the shields rates it at about 80 Petajoules; it takes two hours to drill through the armour and shields with phasers set on max. The ship can defend itself not only with its air wing, but also with the battery of 98 phaser banks capable of striking anywhere and 56 torpedo tubes. Standard complement of 8000 photons and 6000 quantums. The recreational facilities are mostly on par with a _Sovereign-_class's. This is a completely self-sustainable ship, at least for 10 years."

Louis felt he had said all he wanted to say, and switched off his screen.

"Well…boss…what do you think?" Driscoll piped up after an awkward pause of a few minutes.

"I think this was a mistake…who are we going to kill anyway?" Dranzer said. Driscoll and the two commanders grinned. "Forget it; tell me who my senior staff are."

Driscoll stood up and announced to the other officers that he was a longtime friend of Crono's, not able to advance as far because of his tactical expertise. Starfleet didn't want such a good tactical mind to go to waste instructing, at least that was what they said, Driscoll and Crono secretly knew that the Admiral in charge of Starfleet Defense Tactics didn't want to retire, not to the superior Driscoll anyway.

He stretched his massive 6'8", 140kg frame before sitting down. Not only was Driscoll an expert in killing enemy ships, he was an expert at hand-to-hand and small infantry tactics too. Crono, noted to himself that Driscoll had not changed from the cocksure cadet at SFA to now, and that was 17 years and too many battles ago.

The Frenchman spoke next, reverting to the French accent and the language for some mysterious reason. "Je suis Louis Blériot, je suis Français et fier de lui! (I am Louis Blériot, I am French and proud of it!)". The Air Group Commander scoffed.

"Ah, fermé vous porc-chien Anglais stupide, je cours ce bateau! (Oh shut up you stupid English pig-dog, I run this ship!). Well, when your precious aircraft need fuel, don't come to me, English!"

Crono flicked through Cdr. Blériot file, as he knew when the English and the French start arguing, it'll be Judgment Day before they'll stop. Louis Blériot had an exemplary career, starting as a lowly engineer for the Enterprise-D before heading back to SFA to specialise in starship EPS and Warp Drives. He eventually got contracted to design a new generation of fusion engines and got a place designing a new transwarp drive. His genius led to functional transwarp drives that were now being implemented in every new Federation starship and fusion engines with six times the capacity of previous ones. It only made sense that one of the most qualified engineers in the galaxy should be CE on the flagship.

"Okay, you can sit down Mr Blériot…AGC, you can go next."

The Englishman cleared his throat, and said simply, "My name is Air Commodore Richard Devlin, pleased to meet you."

After a few more introductions, where Crono got acquainted with General Zoran Rexx, Marine Commandant, half-Vulcan Chief Medical Officer, Capt. Hee-Hee Izukawa, the half-Betazoid Chief of Operations and Second Officer Christie Jameson and finally Adm. Dranzer's First Officer, a beautiful young Captain Alexandra Zenith, the test pilot for the prototype transwarp engine and a Trill.

"So, you are perhaps 200 years old? Maybe older?" Adm. Dranzer inquired nonchalantly. "Actually, Admiral, I've only lived two lifetimes, this one and the previous one…and the previous host unfortunately died only a few years after joining…but how does someone so young get to be Admiral?" Zenith replied coldly.

"Well, I to command the ship they said I needed to be Admiral…you know that a ship of this size would have many Captains, I can't be equal rank to the people I command, can I?"

"It'll be a pleasure to serve you then sir…"

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be rude Captain. Since we all know each other now, can we set off?" Adm. Dranzer said.

Cdr. Jameson immediately said, "Our engines are ready, the crew are at their stations and our escort's arrived. We can go whenever you give the word, Admiral."

"Okay, man your stations people…we want this maiden voyage to be successful, don't we?"

The entire senior staff nodded, stood, and headed to their posts. Dranzer took a turbolift to the bridge and was about to sit down in his comfy chair, when he was surprised by Driscoll suddenly shouting out, "Captain on deck!" The personnel on the bridge all stood up and saluted the Captain, who saluted back. Saluting was a new ceremonial thing added to Starfleet…the brass obviously thought they needed something more than a handshake for the lowly minions to acknowledge that they were higher up than the underlings.

"It can't be…Captain Jean-Luc Picard!" Crono blurted out.

"Yes, I'm here to see off the maiden voyage of the new flagship…for me, it was thoroughly enjoyable experience being Captain of the flagship, but I guess it was time for me to move on! Congratulations, Admiral Dranzer, I hope you will have an enjoyable tenure." Picard shook hands with Dranzer, who couldn't believe that he was shaking hands with his hero.

"Thank you, sir…I feel a surge of good luck now that you've given me your confidence."

"Ha, ha, you flatter me sir…the commander of this ship has got to be a better leader than I was." Picard finished his greeting and got into the turbolift.

"I am taking part in this wargame as well, so we'll have the chance to see how good you really are, Admiral. Good luck."

"Thank you Captain." Dranzer said farewell. The Admiral finally sat down in his seat, and was shortly joined by Capt. Zenith.

"Well, Admiral, she's yours…just give the order to engage." Zenith said.

Outside in space, the docking clamps were released and the carrier was allowed to sail out from drydock. After moving a couple of hundred kilometres from the shipyard, USS _Godfist _was met by two _Defiant-_class escorts.

The hailing signal rang inside. It was from the Captain of the lead escort.

"On screen." Dranzer ordered. A Klingon face appeared on the viewscreen.

"Admiral, I am Captain Worf of the USS _Defiant. _I shall escort you first to the battlefield, and then I and our partner ship shall compete with you in the engagement."

"Thank you Mr Worf, form up and get ready to warp on my command."

"Yes sir." The screen switched off.

Admiral Crono Dranzer cleared his throat and got ready to warp to Neptune. _This war game is just the first step in this adventure…I will eventually go where no one has gone before!_

"Ms Jameson, set a course for the Neptune Killing Ground. Warp 13."

Dranzer then announced a message to the entire crew.

"All hands, this is Admiral Dranzer, Captain of this vessel. Now will be our first test of character. We are going to go to that wargame and we are going to show the rest of Starfleet what we are made of. Prepare to hit the ground running, and remember,_ '__It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war'_. Thank you."

The whole crew waited apprehensively for the signal to engage. Crono raised his hand, and then brought it down, pointing towards the stars.

"Engage."

**_The end of the first chapter…a precursor for things to come…will disaster strike the plucky crew of the Godfist, or will this just be a routine exercise? Don't go anywhere, the second chapter is coming up!_**


	2. Destruction

**Chapter Two: **Destruction

_1507hrs, 9 May, 2381 – Galactic Standard Time_

"Captain's Log, Stardate 58352.41. I have just been assigned command of a brand new warship, the _Nexus-_class, USS _Godfist. _She is a fine ship, but, however, she is a warship, not an explorer like I'm used too. In fact, with a crew of almost 7000, I'll have my work cut out for me. But, this ship has enough weapons to deal with almost any problem…I hope. Anyway, I just hope that we won't ever have to use these weapons in a real situation…this wargame we're going to will help test the capabilities of the _Nexus-_class, and I'm confident it will prove a match even to the enemy fleet led by the brilliant Jean-Luc Picard and his Second-in-Command Captain Data. End log."

The _Godfist _cruised along at a cool Warp 13, with the _Defiant _and its partner, the USS _Crusher_ in tow. It would only take a few more seconds to jump out behind the planet, just out of view of the enemy fleet. According to the document Capt. Zenith gave Dranzer, the _Godfist _would join up with the USS _Ninja _and _Ghost _two ships of the _Akira_-class, _Invincible _of the _Intrepid-_class and _Ark Royal _of the new _Kronos_-class. The enemy fleet Bravo had 10 ships, three more than Alpha, but Alpha had a carrier on their side!

"Okay ladies and gentlemen," Admiral Dranzer said, "We are going up against the toughest minds of the Federation; Jean-Luc Picard is the commander of the opposition in the _Enterprise_, backed up by the android Data commanding _Andromeda, _a _Galaxy-_class. We will have Captain Worf as our fleet 2IC."

Driscoll organised the tactical plan. "As we haven't ever had space carrier battles before, we will be adopting a 21st-Century strategy. The fleet will be broken up into two elements, with us as the leader. Red will consist of _Ghost, Crusher _and_ Ark Royal, _while Blue will be _Defiant, Ninja _and _Invincible. _Red will use attack pattern Sulu-Foxtrot and Blue will support with the November defense manoeuvre. Aircraft from _Godfist _will attack knock out the chain of command, starting from the top. Blue will make sure the enemy flak doesn't hit the friendly fighters and bombers, or chicks as the fighter jocks like to say." Driscoll scoffed at that. He always hated those arrogant fighter types, especially since he watched them train for a number of weeks. "We also have reports that at the last second the enemy fleet jury-rigged their ships to carry fighter craft, so AGC, tell your men to be wary for bandits (another jock expression, this time meaning enemy aircraft). Is that clear everyone? Good."

The fleet broke off into their respective elements and moved forward. Aircraft took off from _Godfist _at an alarming rate, supplied not only by the top flightdeck but by shuttle bays and the ventral bays. Soon, half the air group had taken off and were moving towards the enemy. On the other side, Bravo shuttles, runabouts and Peregrine fighters left the shuttle bays of the opposition ships.

Within a few minutes, the two fleets were within firing range. Worf started the fight by firing a huge phaser spread at the cloud of incoming bandits. The other _Defiant _charged directly into the enemy fleet with all guns blazing. The enemy were shocked enough to concentrate all their fire on the marauding _Defiant _which left them open to the Alpha's fleet fighters. A _Steamrunner _was stunned and eliminated by a few fighters, while the rest still tried to kill the _Crusher. _Picard was trying to call order, but it all degenerated into a melee when the other element charged into point blank range. Phaser bolts and beams flew all over the place, stunning ships left and right, while the fighters took on each other.

Fighters were swooping across nacelles, skimming dangerously close to saucers and generally causing havoc. Finally the Alpha fighters got together and fired all their ordnance at the _Enterprise-E.,_ punching through the shields, and came very close to eliminating the ship.

Picard shouted above the wailing klaxons, "Stop firing on the enemy ships and get rid of those fighters!"

The _Enterprise _fired a phaser spread and knocked out many fighters and bombers, but not managing to kill enough to stop a few mock quantum torpedoes to imaginarily destroy the ship.

"Well, Captain, I think we need some practice in dealing with small craft, eh?" Riker smirked out.

"Quiet Number One."

Onboard the _Godfist, _casualty reports were coming in.

"We've taken care of almost half the enemy fleet, and only lost a couple of fighters and the _Crusher_!" Driscoll yelled happily. "Look at them, they're in utter chaos. They've never fought fighters before and they don't know what to do!"

Crono smiled to himself. _Well, that wasn't too bad, we lost a few, but, acceptable…nobody else has fought fighters either, so carriers certainly will strike fear into the hearts of would-be enemies…_

"Uh, Admiral, I'm reading something strange on my scanner." A science officer said.

"What is it, Lt. Dawson?" Crono replied.

"Elevated neutrino readings, it resembles…well, at my time on DS9, that usually meant a wormhole. It looks just like it!"

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a giant blue wormhole opened up.

"Holy shit, where did that come from!" Driscoll shouted. "Something's coming out!"

He was right. A fleet of about twenty ships jumped out from the wormhole and immediately begun firing on the closest ships.

"Fuck! Call a real Red Alert to the fleet. Tell them to take their phasers off stun and load those quantums!" Admiral Dranzer commanded as he leapt to his feet. "AGC, scramble all aircraft and tell them to shoot to kill!"

The enemy attack took the battling fleets by surprise. A couple of ships that were drifting after being eliminated were destroyed as energy bolts slammed into their hulls.

On the _Defiant _Worf was having a field day. "All Federation ships and stations in the vicinity, this is Captain Worf. We have come under attack from an unidentified enemy force. Stop drifting around and target all weapons on the aggressors!"

Data signalled the fleet that he had discovered the enemy's identity. "Fleet, this is Captain Data. Enemy ships appear to be Breen…and a new type we have never encountered, at least not one in our records. Enemy fire appears to be Plasma bolts and Plasma torpedoes. Shields will have a minimum affect on their weapons. I suggest a tactical withdrawal."

Crono clutched his hair. "How the hell did this happen! Captain Zenith, get on the horn to Starfleet Command. Tell them we have a somewhat major crisis." Zenith nodded and hopped off to a communications station. "This is bad…we've lost four ships already."

In the middle of the ambush, a Wing Commander, Arcanis 'Dagger' Wolfhound swerved his fighter past the wrecks of his former wingmen. _I thought this was an exercise!_

Suddenly to make things worse, bays on the enemy vessels opened up, revealing swarms of fighter craft. They took off and headed towards the Federation ships. _Time to test out my green skills, I guess._

Wolfhound punched the afterburners for the impulse drive, rocketing his SF-30 to 0.99c. "All fighters, this is WgCdr. Wolfhound. I think now is the time where our skills are really put to the test. Form up on me and take your weapons off of stun. Shoot to kill, ladies and gentlemen."

The two fighter groups met each other some thousand kilometres from the main fleet. The Federation was first to fire; a fact that led Dagger to figure their weapons had better range. Photon torpedoes streaked through the inky blackness, followed by phasers shortly after. Most of the first wave was annihilated by the volley, the survivors streaking off to maintain acceptable distance intervals with each other. The enemy fighters took it as their turn to fire, a mass of plasma erupting from the fighters. Luckily, the Federation pilots ducked and swerved, resulting in only a few lost vessels. The rest fired off countermeasures to disrupt any new attack, but now the two masses of craft close to dogfighting distance, where the CMs were largely useless. It appeared that the enemy bandits had more practice at dogfighting, as many Federation fighters got destroyed before they could retaliate.

Finally, the main fleet got their act together and provided covering fire to the chicks in the furball. It was fortunate, because the Federation pilots felt quite sore after losing craft at a ration of 2:1. What wasn't fortunate however was the fact that bomber-looking craft were now cruising towards the Federation starships.

Jean-Luc Picard recognised it as reminiscent of old 20th-Century Earth Cold War naval battles. The bandits would lure the chicks away from projecting a protective curtain around the fleet, and then bombers would cruise in, fire their anti-ship torpedoes or missiles and head back home.

"Vampires, vampires!" The _Enterprise_'s tactical officer yelled.

"Shoot the things down man!" Picard ordered. The _Enterprise _and the other ships fired their phasers at the incoming torpedoes, destroying about three-quarters of them, but not all.

"Too late sir! Some got through!"

Picard hit his comm-badge. "All hands, brace for impact!"

The plasma torpedoes struck the various surviving ships of the fleet. Some, who had already lost their shields, were immediately destroyed, but luckily the _Enterprise_ only received two. It did dissipate their forward, dorsal and ventral shields completely, however.

"Damage report!" Picard cried out from the floor.

"No damage to hull integrity…shields crippled." The Tactical Officer said.

"Uh…" Picard groaned, rubbing his head. "Let's hope those bombers from the _Godfist _take care of the opposition.

The bomber force was still closing to launch range, however, and worse still a fresh wave of enemy fighters were coming to meet them.

"Uh…we need fighter cover here! Stop dogfighting like the jocks you are and cover us!" the bomber lead shouted. Most of the fighters got the message and broke off their dance of death to intercept the new wave, but more than a third of them were destroyed when they tried to run. WgCdr. Wolfhound survived and took out four enemy fighters in a show of skill and daring.

"C'mon boys, on me!" he yelled over the comm, depressing the gun trigger. A fresh barrage from the fleet took care of the rest of the first wave, allowing the fighters that hadn't been killed to attack the interceptor wave. A mere 55 fighters were left, 30 normal fighters and 25 strike, roughly half the original numbers. The ambush had certainly taken its toll on the green Federation pilots. The fighters and bombers closed to striking distance, but then Wolfhound saw just how many interceptors there were.

"There's has got to be at least 200 there…" he gulped. A few seconds later and they would've all be engulfed in a cloud of metal, but out of nowhere, a huge volley of phaser beams and pulses annihilated three-quarters of the interceptors.

The _Godfist _had just raced to the frontlines to provide its superior fire support capabilities. Able to fire two spread per second in crisis mode, the enemy fighters were quickly decimated.

"Woo hoo!" was the cry that echoed through the comm system. The bombers continued to proceed at their blistering rate, closing the gap between the launch distances in a few seconds. Almost at the exact same time, the quantum and photon torpedoes were launched. The bombers and fighters then broke off to rearm and refuel, watching the destruction on their viewscreens. The enemy ships tried in vain to shoot down the projectiles, but missed most of them and were struck by the red and blue spheres of destruction.

Immediately after being hit with the torpedoes, the ships exploded in a cloud of pure energy. It was almost systematic. The left side ships exploded first, the explosions jumping in a graceful arc all the way to the right side.

On the bridge of the _Godfist_, the officers whooped and cheered, watching a close victory unfold spectacularly before their eyes. Admiral Dranzer and Captain Zenith was clapping, the former thinking to himself, _that was close…we must investigate it more closely…_

"Well done sir!" Zenith said.

"Hmm…" Dranzer thought. "We have to investigate this incident further…but for now, let's go over the casualty report…"

**_The end of the second chapter…the end of a ferocious attack…what new surprises are in store for our plucky crew? Find out in Chapter Three: _Crisis!**


	3. Crisis

**Chapter Three: **Crisis

_1 June 2381, _

_Starfleet Command, San Francisco_

"Captain's log, Stardate 58414.95. Following an ambush at Neptune, the survivors of the attack have been towed back to Sector 001, where the Captains and First Officers will be debriefed. Casualty reports say that out of 17 ships, only seven survived, the _Godfist, Enterprise, Defiant, Andromeda, Ghost, Invincible _and _Ark Royal. _All of them are heavily damaged, with the exception of _Godfist, _thanks to the fact that we weren't close to the battle until later. A survey of the area revealed no trace of the wormhole that the enemy fleet obviously used to attack us with, so we must assume that they can somehow artificially generate them at will. Thankfully, we did recover remains of their spacecraft and starships, which the scientists at the Daystrom Institute StarFlight Division are studying now.

In our first live combat ever, the _Godfist _proved itself powerful, but we did lose many fighters suggesting we need to train them up a lot. Hopefully we won't be doing that again soon…end log."

"What are you saying, Admiral? That there was an artificially constructed wormhole that collapsed after! We just lost 10 ships and lots of fighters! They don't hang of trees you know!" Admiral Hayabusa yelled at Dranzer.

"Sorry, sir, but our science officers can't come up with a better answer than that. The wormhole just isn't there anymore, and you saw for yourself the footage. The only reasonable explanation is that the enemy forces constructed a wormhole for the express purpose of attacking and killing the fleet's best tactical minds."

The fleet Admiral clapped a hand to his forehead. "We lost over a thousand good men…the only lesson we learnt is that the enemy fighters are better than our own. Okay, the _Godfist _is to remain on patrol of Sector 001 for at least three months for the pilots to get in some good hours. It's up to you to train them, make sure they're up to fighting the next time we meet these mysterious foes". _If there even is a next time…_the Admiral didn't have to add.

"Yes sir." Crono stood at attention and saluted. He turned on his heel and left the Fleet Admiral's office and sent in Picard.

_That wasn't so bad. _Dranzer thought to himself. He walked a few steps towards the exit, but just as the automatic door was going to slide open, his comm badge rung. _Better not be an emergency…_

"Rear Admiral Dranzer?" said the badge urgently. It was the voice of the President of the United Federation of Planets.

"Fuck me stupid." Dranzer cursed as he hit his badge. "Yes sir?"

"Admiral Dranzer, a Class-Red State of Emergency has been declared. Our operational status is now Defcon 2. Report to the Federation War Room immediately."

"Right away sir." Crono set off at a run towards the War Room. This was an extremely serious matter to be called to Defense Condition 2. All operational forces were placed on almost maximum alert, and as Flagship Captain, the man responsible for projecting Federation power; Crono had a special place next to the Federation Chiefs of Staff. A few seconds later Dranzer skidded to a halt in front of the War Room and entered.

"Thank you for joining us, Mr Dranzer." The President greeted quickly. "Take a seat."

Crono found his seat to the right of the Secretary of Defense, the Hon. Judge Mark Graham, an old dog with the Federation's decision makers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," said the President, gesturing to his staff, "We have a crisis. The Romulan Star Empire is now embroiled in a civil war caused by a militaristic coup d'état led by a Romulan patriot that, according to intelligence reports, is extremely…frustrated, by the Romulans' decision to make peace with the Federation. This extremist is an ex-Tel Shiar operative and thus has a lot of influence on military leaders that have profited from the Tel Shiar in the past."

The SECDEF pressed a button on his LCARS panel, bringing up a holographic image of the revolutionary on the centre of the table.

"Yorel D'derix, the brother of the designer of the B-Type Warbird." He said. "A brilliant military mind, he now has half the military in his pocket and many politicians behind him. We estimate that at this rate, D'derix will win over the gevernment in three months, without outside intervention that is…" the SECDEF's eyes glinted.

_Since when has the Federation interfered in another nation's polictics? _Dranzer thought to himself.

"Since it has benefited us." A female voice said with a hint of arrogance. Crono looked over the table to see the Director-General of Intelligence, a wily Betazed spy.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it is bad manners to delved into someone mind without their permission?" Crono said coldly. The DGI laughed maliciously.

"I'm a spy by profession _and_ nature, honey…it's what I do…"

Dranzer sniffed.

"Back on track, we have tasked Section 32, Foreign Espionage, to infiltrate the Romulan Patriotic Liberation Army to swing the tide of battle to our favour…we don't want a Federation-hating spook as the leader of Romulus." The President said. "As for Starfleet, we are deploying the USS _Godfist_ to the RNZ to keep hostilities well behind the Romulan border. It has been discussed with the ex-Government Romulans."

"What!" Crono stood up. "Our crew isn't even trained properly yet! This is a combat mission…our crew will get slaughtered out there with the pros! We'll be in the middle of neutral space, with the slightly unstable Klingons to our left and the warring Romulans to our right…it'll be suicide!"

"Mr Dranzer, you have your orders, and we expect you to carry them out!" The President shouted unexpectedly. Crono recoiled a bit, he wasn't used to see a man in his position of power losing his temper like that.

"Well, _sir_…do I get some assistance at least? For example, a few escorts?" Adm. Dranzer replied after a pause.

SECDEF answered him. "Most of the 1st Fleet is calming down the Klingons in light of their recent revolution, and a good part of 2nd Fleet were destroyed in the latest blunder by our esteemed soldiers. Three to Ten are being refitted or are on assignments in deep space. You'll get three _Defiant_'s. That's all we can spare right now. You're only there to display the flag, not there to fight a war."

Dranzer couldn't believe these people. The Klingons, who were now democratic thanks to the revolt of a few dissendents needed a large portion of Starfleet to 'settle them down', while a empire that was now at war could only be spared a few ships, one of which isn't even ready!

Crono exhaled sharply…he would have to make due with his resources, and he didn't want the hotheaded President to chew up his commision.

"That will be all, Mr Dranzer. Move out!" The President exclaimed. Crono stood and snapped a quick salute.

"Yes sir."

"Well?" Driscoll asked Crono as he walked through the turbolift doors onto the bridge. The Admiral slammed his armrest console before sitting down.

"Those stupid bureacratic fucks. Sending us out with a untrained, unprepared crew with only three escorts to back us up, and what do we do? We have to stop the Romulan civil war from spilling out into Federation space…and all this time, what the fuck is the First Fleet doing? Spending a nice holiday sitting around doing nothing on the Klingon border!" Dranzer ordered a glass of Earl Grey from his personal replicator built into his seat. He sighed with stress. "First a huge battle, and now certain death at the hands of the clashing Romulan fleets. Everybody knows that the Romulans won't hestitate to take a few Federation ships with them while they go down in flames, contrary to the peace treaty signed after that Shizon incident."

"Don't worry Crono, for all we know, it could be a nice, pleasant cruise. This whole incident could just blow over." Driscoll reassured Crono.

"Or not. Why do you always assume the best? This is a serious situation and I don't think a premature guess to the Romulan's doctrine would do us any good." Captain Zenith interjected as she came through the corridor doors.

Driscoll rolled his eyes before making a comment. "Those Trill, they think because they have lived and experienced more than the rest of us they have a right to act all world-wise and cynical. That would work normally, but seeing as this one is even younger than us, it's rather tragic. She knows nothing and will learn nothing!"

"What! How dare you adress a supe…" Zenith blurted out.

"QUIET! That's enough, both of you! We are going to sail out to the bloody NZ, park our arses down and vapourise any fucking Romulan ship we see trying to act smart, and that will the end of it! If all goes well, we can expect medals after this shit-heap assignment, and if we don't, well, I will personally shove my pips up the President's arse! Now, play nice and STOP FUCKING SHOUTING!" Crono screamed before he stomped into his office.

"This is the baby that protected me out there…look at how many holes there are on that armour, she took quite a pounding without giving up!" Wing Commander Arcanis 'Dagger' Wolfhound told a stunned audience. He reached inside the cockpit and pressed a few buttons on the console. "And how many kills did I make?" The computer chirped before answering.

"34 confirmed kills, 24 fighters and 10 bombers." Said the familiar female voice. The crowd whooped and cheered at that. The Air Boss, Dick Devlin shook Dagger's hand.

"This here, chaps, is the top gun of the _Godfist _Group…number one of 20 aces. The next one in line is WgCdr. 'Tiamat' Bennington, with 33 kills, more than half with guns only!"

Tiamat stood up and waved, shooting a split second acknowledging grin to Dagger. The two had been rivals all their life, first competing in professional Piano, Painting, Starfleet security and then fighter piloting when the call for recruits and transfers was sent out. Secretly, against most of the ship's crew opinions, the two were looking forward to the next time they were engaged with enemy fighters to continue their lifelong competition.

A buzzer sounded, announcing a message from the Captain.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to have to announce this, but we have received priority orders from Starfleet Command in a briefing I attended a couple of minutes ago. We are being deployed to the Romulan NZ to 'project Federation power'. I sorry this has come at short notice, but it goes all the way to the top. We are sailing immediately, but we do get 12 hours at Utopia Planitia to repair and restock crew. All hands on deck! Dranzer out."

"What the fuck?" Wolfhound swore.

**_The poor crew of the _Godfist_, just back from a traumatic battle is off on a new and potentially deadly mission already! Driscoll and Zenith have just had an altercation, Crono seems to be pissed off at everything, the fighter pilots are their usual arrogant selves, and the Federation brass is behaving very oddly. What new things will our heroes discover on this six week voygage? Will it be all smooth sailing? Find out in Chapter Four: _Calm**


End file.
